Yet another week

Had my first presentation to the Credit team on Friday. Surprisingly it went well despite my tender months in Credit and talking about a subject (ABX indices and subprime market) which I do not deal with on a daily basis.

It was a rather eventful week, first with counting down the days to Kay's departure on Friday. She was the de-facto manager in my team, despite reporting up to two associate directors since she was the most experienced in the team. Although the recent desk move had us sitting next to each other for only one month, we managed to strike a good camaraderie due to some "common interests". So it was quite sad to see her go. We raised a good amount for her farewell and had an exceedingly nice and long lunch at a French restaurant on Friday.

I mentioned earlier about my dislike for line control and, this week, I managed to negotiate a move out - courtesy of an arrangement between my immediate boss and the department head (SD). And in two weeks! What a pleasant surprise. Myself and SD has been working very closely together since the launch of our PCG credit research and, thank God, he has been sufficiently impressed to keep me and allow me to do stuff that would interest me.

Speaking of interest, we had to put aside our daily routine of watching the Hong Kong serials due to the "death" of our Wharfedale TV - a £40 acquisition when I first came over to London. I was determined to get a new TV this time round, hoping to "upsize" on the 26" TV and not hemorrhage my wallet at the same time (You folks back home in Singapore better be thankful for Sim Lim and Funan). Every other 28" TV costs around £150 - 250. Out of desperation and taking a longer-term view, I splurged on the following.

Nothing fanciful - a made-in-China, assembled-in-Czech 32" LCD but half the price of an equivalent Sony or Samsung. Might not be as spectacular (well definitely not as good from what I see) but if it works and provides a good return on investment, who cares.

After all, I am still an accountant.